Oops, I did it AGAIN!..and AGAIN!

OK, well. What can I say?  I couldn't help myself! I saw it and I HAD to have it.  It was so pretty and the fabrics were beautiful and, and, and.... so, I did.  I started another Block of the Month.  This one is called OLD MAID and I saw it while I was at Bella Quiltworks in Tuscon Az.  It's the quilt hanging on the wall. 

Now the idea of this quilt is that each block appears twice except for one which is, of course, the OLD MAID!  To make it a little more difficult to find the OLD MAID, although there are two of each block, the pair are not made with the same fabric.  

Here are the fabrics for my first set of blocks.  Each month they send enough fabric to make 6 blocks and each block is 8" finished.

I got all the pieces cut out and ready for sewing...

No OLD MAID in this set!

Now, you may have guessed from the title of this blog that this is not my only new BOM, and you would be right...  I couldn't help it!

This is another Civil War Quilt called Civil War Journal.  Here's a picture of that one:

Isn't it FANTASTIC!  I just could not resist!  I haven't started this one yet.  I will in the next couple of days though!

Now, just to reassure everyone, I have not given up on working on my lists.  I have ordered some stuff for Gammil Bea and so that's in the works and I am anxious to get some quilting done.  But I have also finished Month 2 of my 1st Civil War Quilt- Civil War Tribute.  These are the fabrics used for Month 2

 And here is the finshed blocks..there are four of these in the quilt.

 So here is what I've finished so far:

 Not the greatest picture but you get the idea!

By the way, I had a brain storm!  I hate ironing.  In fact, my hubby asked me once to iron a shirt for him and I replied, "only if I can cut it up and sew it into a quilt block!"  (The key word there is "ONCE" :P )   Anyway, so I was ironing the fabric for my Civil War Tribute Quilt and I thought maybe I can iron a few (since I have them all).  The problem is keeping them ironed until I get to them.  Well, I got a skirt hanger and hung the fabric with the pattern.

It's great!  I've got 5 of them ironed and hung and waiting for my rotary cutter and sewing machine.

Well my friends, that's about all this time. We'll visit again soon!

Happy Quilting!

Irene

Longarmed and Dangerous

Oh my goodness!  I can't believe how long its been since we last visited!  It's been a crazy three weeks for me  but I have managed to get a few things done...

Did you know that I am Longarmed and Dangerous?  

Well. Meet my Gammill Bea. (Named after my Grandma Bea)

My Gammill Bea has traveled with me for the past 7 or 8 years. She has been a constant friend standing always at the ready. It's taken me a long time to get Gammill Bea's room all set up but I finally took an afternoon to get it together.  It's not totally finished but at least everything is just about in it's place.

So, now that Gammill Bea is all settled in I hope to put her to work really soon!

Do you remember my private little Phoenix Shop Hop? Well, on that shop hop I found a product that I thought I would give a whirl and let me tell you...I LOVE it!!

It's called Hugo's Amazing Tape.

I must confess, it was a little pricey...if I'm not mistaken about $15 but I think it was worth every penny!

This is how my cones of thread looked before Amazing Tape...

And this is after...

It's wonderful.  It isn't sticky...more like cellophane or plastic and you can use it on just about anything...including paper which is wonderful because I have a lot of Pantograph patterns that I use with Gammill Bea and this stuff keeps them from unrolling!  Fabulous!! It's reusable too so if I use a cone of thread, once I'm done I can use the same piece to close it up again.  Love, Love, Love IT!

As far my project lists are concerned, well, I haven't got as much done as I would have liked but as I said it's been a little crazy recently.  In any case I did manage to find the time to work on a few projects. 

I finished the Door-A-Doodle Snowman and Heart...two of each! I have only to finish the hand-stitching portion of the binding and they will be all set to go!  But, I have a little confession to make...

Along with the Amazing Tape that I bought, I bought a new project.  I know, I know.  I'm supposed to be finishing projects I already have but I couldn't resist!  I don't know about you but we eat a lot of flour tortillas in my house and I found a pattern to make a microwave tortilla warmer! 

The pattern called for a 13" circle. Now, whenever a pattern calls for a circle...I head for the kitchen.  There are a thousand circles in the kitchen of various sizes and I've yet to be disappointed!  I used a platter that I have never used for serving but it made a great template :)  So, now I needed something that I could use to make the template out of.  Normally, I would use cardboard but I didn't have a big enough piece.  My plastic template sheets weren't big enough either...What to do?!?!

Then I remembered that I had an old cutting mat that had been warped and out of shape.  This became my template material and it worked great!

 The pattern was easy to follow and went together really quickly and voila!  I now have a tortilla warmer.  This project didn't get put on my "New Project" list but since I finished it I don't really need to!  Whoop! Here's a pic of the finished project and the stuff I used to put it together.

  

I also worked on my Antique Rose Hand-Applique Quilt project but I didn't get as much done as I'd have liked...oh well.  I'll get to it, right?

Well, dear friends. I better get the house clean and the bills paid...

which is what I was supposed to do when I turned on the computer.  I'm so glad we got to have this little visit and I hope to hear form you all in the form of your comments.

Happy Quilting!

Irene